Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Hypericum androsaemum cultivar Esmfire.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hypericum plant, botanically known as Hypericum androsaemum, commercially used as cut stems with fruits, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Esmfirexe2x80x99.
The new Hypericum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador. The objective of the breeding program was to develop cut Hypericum varieties with large fruit and attractive coloration.
The new cultivar originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in August, 1999 of a proprietary selection of Hypericum androsaemum identified as Code 02, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unidentified selection of Hypericum androsaemum, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Esmfire was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hypericum by terminal cuttings taken at El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador since June, 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Hypericum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Esmfirexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Esmfirexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant habit.
2. Dark green-colored leaves.
3. Large red purple-colored fruits.
4. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Hypericum differ from plants of the female parent selection identified as Code 02 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum are shorter than plants of the female parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum have lighter green-colored leaves than plants of the female parent selection.
3. Plants of the new Hypericum have more rounded fruits than plants of the female parent selection.
4. Plants of the new Hypericum and the female parent selection differ in fruit coloration.
Plants of the new Hypericum differ from plants of the male parent selection primarily in fruit size and coloration.
Plants of the new Hypericum can be compared to plants of the Hypericum cultivar Bosapin, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,993. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador, plants of the new Hypericum differed from plants of the cultivar Bosapin in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum had broader and lighter green-colored leaves than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum had more rounded fruits than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
3. Plants of the new Hypericum and the cultivar Bosapin differed in fruit coloration.